हिंदी
…People will never forgive Manpreet Badal for his great betrayal: Prof Baljinder Kaur
Bathinda, 17 August 2020
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab Senior Leader Principal Budhram, Prof Baljinder Kaur and Rupinder Kaur Ruby (All MLAs) accused Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal of misleading people over the land belonging to Bathinda Thermal Plant dedicated to Guru Nanak Dev, saying he would not be allowed to mislead the people anymore. They said that earlier there was an attempt on the part of the SAD-BJP government to sell the thermal plant to private players, adding the then Congress party had publicly opposed the move and was now in a tearing hurry to demolish the Bathinda thermal plant and sell its land to mafia lords.
In a joint statement, AAP MLAs informed that Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal had promised before the 2017 elections that the Bathinda Thermal Plant would not be allowed to shut down at any cost. They added the Finance Minister was now in a hurry to demolish the thermal plant and sell its land to the land mafia, shelving the useful proposal to run the thermal plant on straw.
The AAP MLAs questioned Manpreet Badal why he had thrown the proposal in the trash bin and was all for demolishing it t appease the mafia lords calling the shots in the state. They added that if the proposal to run the plant on straw was implemented, the Guru Nanak’s legacy would have been preserved, and that the farmers would have earned handsome income from the straw, besides protecting the environment.
MLA Rupinder Kaur Ruby said the AAP was not opposed to industrial development in the state, but it was stoutly against the demolition of thermal plant and doling out the land to the patronized mafia lords for pea nuts, saying had the industrial park had been planned at some other location, the Aam Aadmi Party would have supported the move.
However, it would oppose the move to demolish the thermal plant and sell its land, and intensify the agitation across the state from August 20. She said that before the AAP formed its government in the state in 2022, it would go the whole hog to stop the government to demolish the thermal plant and sell its land.
